Trump in damage-control mode over abortion backlash from the right

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump is in damage control on abortion after telling NBC News that Florida’s six-week ban is “too short” and declining to take a clear stance on a state ballot measure that would expand access to the procedure.

The backlash from anti-abortion advocates was fierce, with some warning that the Republican presidential nominee was risking support from a key bloc of the party’s base in the 2024 election.

Alarmed by what she saw, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the influential anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, called Trump on Thursday to ask for clarity on his comments, according to a source with knowledge of the conversation. Trump told her that he didn’t state a position on an amendment on his home state’s ballot this fall, which would bar restrictions on abortion before fetal viability, around the 24th week of pregnancy.

Dannenfelser told him that “it’s imperative that you’re clear because there’s confusion now that you may be in support of this,” the source added. She also told him the amendment is “incongruent” with his opposition to late-term abortion.

During the interview with NBC News, Trump said, “I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks,” when asked how he would vote on the ballot measure. It's unclear what he meant as the Florida initiative gives voters a binary choice.

Later Thursday, Trump’s campaign issued a statement saying the former president “has not yet said how he will vote on the ballot initiative in Florida.”

Meanwhile, anti-abortion activists, who have provided critical support to Trump during his three presidential runs, piled on. Some also criticized his suggestion that he’d mandate that the government or insurance companies pay for in vitro fertilization treatments. 

“Former President Trump now appears determined to undermine his prolife supporters,” evangelical theologian Albert Mohler wrote on X. “His criticism of Florida abortion restrictions & his call for government funding of IVF & his recent statement about ‘reproductive rights’ seem almost calculated to alienate prolife voters.”

The clash puts Trump and Republicans in uncharted waters, facing the first presidential election in half a century without Roe v. Wade on the books to protect abortion rights. The GOP was largely unified behind legislation to outlaw abortion at the state and federal levels when they were able to use it to rally anti-abortion voters with no chance of succeeding legislatively.

But some Republicans now fear voter backlash from the majority of Americans who say in polls they want abortion to be mostly or always legal, particularly as Democrats seek to further capitalize on the issue. And Trump, who has bragged about appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe, is still struggling to navigate it.

Abortion foes are caught in their own bind over whether to abandon Trump or to support him in the hope that Republicans will win and continue to pursue nationwide abortion restrictions, despite the former president's claims to the contrary.

"If Donald Trump loses in November, it will be his improvisational approach to abortion that alienated the pro-life community that costs him victory," conservative radio host Erick Erickson said.

Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life — which has helped organize tens of thousands of anti-abortion activists, mostly on college campuses — wrote on X on Thursday: “My phone is blowing up with @SFLAction volunteers who no longer will door knock for President Trump if this is not corrected. With polls neck and neck, this is the last thing we need right now to defeat Kamala’s pro-abortion extremism.”

She told NBC News the Trump campaign “personally” told leaders in her group that he’s undecided on the Florida measure. She said they expect him to vote “no” and warned that Trump’s waffling on the issue would likely hurt his support with many volunteers.

“When they hear the leader of the Republican Party, Donald Trump, walking back past pro-life statements, it’s devastating to them,” she said. “And it’s shocking to them that Republicans would betray this very important part of the Republican Party.”

“He needs to be very careful with his words,” she added.

Taryn Fenske, a spokeswoman for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, pushed back against Trump’s comments.

“Donald Trump has consistently stated that late-term abortions where a baby can feel pain should never be permitted, and he’s always stood up for parents’ rights,” Fenske said in a statement on X. “Amendment 4 would allow late-term abortions, eliminate parental consent, and open the door to taxpayer-funded abortions. It’s extreme and must be defeated.”

The governor’s wife, Casey DeSantis, also weighed in, saying the initiative “would open the door to taxpayer funded abortions” and added, “We must spread the word and vote NO on 4!”

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign said Trump is lying about his shifts on abortion and his pro-IVF rhetoric.

“We’re going to hold Donald Trump and JD Vance accountable for the devastating impacts of overturning Roe v. Wade and their threats to access to IVF. So every day between now and Election Day, we are going to make sure that the communities that will decide this election know the fundamentals here and the fundamental choice this election,” Harris spokesman Kevin Munoz told reporters on Friday. “Kamala Harris is going to fight for your rights. Donald Trump will take them away.”